DCP Definitions of Child Abuse and Neglect

At Risk

Under s. 18 of the Children and Young People (Safety) Act 2017 a child or young person will be taken to be at risk if:

They have suffered harm (being harm of a kind against which a child or young person is ordinarily protected); or

There is a likelihood that the child or young person will suffer harm (being harm of a kind against which a child or young person is ordinarily protected); or

The parents or guardians of the child or young person - are unable or unwilling to care for the child or young person; or

Have abandoned the child or young person, or cannot, after reasonable inquiry, be found; or are dead; or

The child or young person is of compulsory school age but has been persistently absent from school without satisfactory explanation of the absence; or

The child or young person is of no fixed address.

*Refer to the Children and Young People (Safety) Act 2017 for further information

Further

References

• Family Matters South Australia Community Resource 2019 Responding to Child Protection Issues www.familymatters.org.au

• DCP Practice Approach (Google) Assessment Framework for Stakeholders www.childprotection.sa.gov.au

• Every effort for every child South Australia’s strategy for children and young people in care 2020-2023 Advocacy and support www.childprotection.sa.gov.au

• Specialist practice resource, Victoria Human Services 2012 Cumulative Harm-Best Interests case practice model.

• Legal Services Commission of South Australia Protection of children and young people www.lawhandbook.sa.gov.au

• Enhancing the implementation of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle, Policy and Practice Considerations aifs.gov.au Tilbury, C., Burton, J., Sydenham, E., Boss, R., & Lauw, T. (2013).

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle: Aims and core elements. Melbourne: Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care (SNAICC).

• SNAICC - The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle: A Guide to Support Implementation (2018) www.snaicc.org.au

• National Agreement on Closing the Gap Aims to hold governments accountable to reforming their systems in a way that will achieve better outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and their families www.absec.org.au

• VACCA Guiding Principles. www.vacca.org

• Wellmob www.wellmob.org.au

• SA Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations Network www.dpc.sa.gov.au

• Aboriginal experts to pave the way forward in SA www.childprotection.sa.gov.au

• Australian Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics www.aasw.asn.au